Lifestyle 10 | Thatched

A cottage was once a poor mans home. It was the estate workers, fishermen, railwaymen or farm labourers that would have to slum it in a rural cottage. Well how things have changed. Over the past couple of months we have be inundated with home buyers who are fleeing the big smoke who are in search of the idyllic country cottage. “We want thatch!” is the new “We want South Kensington!”.

It was the 18th-century artists that created the idealised view of rural life. The once cheap form of roofing has become the must have accessory. For centuries, most cottages and farm buildings in Britain would have been thatched and, until the middle ages, even churches and large houses were too. Thatchers used whatever grew locally: heather in Scotland and moorland England; water reed in Norfolk; combed wheat reed in the West Country and wheat straw in southern England.

Some may be put off by the thought of expensive maintenance. In fact thatch is not as daunting as some think. Check out www.thatchadvicecentre.co.uk for more information

Spending a few hundred pounds a year to maintan your thatch will save money in the long term

Thatch looks lovely and for most people, that’s the most important thing

New thatch lasts about15-35 years and costs approx £75 per sq m

Lack of upkeep can let in unwelcome visitors such as mice and squirrels